Roderick MacIsaac, a co-op student working as a researcher for the Ministry of Health, killed himself after he was fired in 2012 over allegations involving the mishandling of research into pharmaceutical drugs. Seven health researchers fired by the B.C. government, and the family of an eighth man who killed himself, have banded together to demand a public inquiry into the case.

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VICTORIA – The family of a health researcher who took his own life after being wrongly fired by the B.C. government wants to know why his suicide note was deleted from his computer.

Roderick MacIsaac, a PhD student on a co-op term with the Ministry of Health, committed suicide in his Saanich apartment in December 2012, just three months after being publicly fired as part of a group of eight researchers accused of a massive privacy breach involving public health data.

Most of the firings were a mistake, government has since admitted. But the government’s apology to MacIsaac didn’t come before he took his own life.

MacIsaac was “working on a document he had created relating to the events that were causing him significant stress,” before he started a gas generator in his apartment and killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning, according to a coroner’s report into his death.

Coroners seized that document, which was on his computer, as part of a death investigation.

When the coroners service returned the computer to MacIsaac’s family 10 months later, the document had been deleted from the hard drive, said Linda Kayfish, MacIsaac’s sister.

The family was able to recover the file using specialized recovery software.

Kayfish detailed the allegations Tuesday in an open letter to Premier Christy Clark, which asked if the coroners service was responsible for deleting the note.

The agency denied the suggestion Tuesday, saying it relied on police to analyze the laptop and print a copy of the letter, because it was password protected.

Island Region Coroner Matt Brown admitted his agency refused to provide the family with a copy of the printed suicide note, which it considered evidence.

Instead, the coroners service intended to allow the family to read the original electronic file when the computer was returned, said Brown.

“From our perspective, and in my discussion with police, at no time was anything deleted from the laptop,” Brown said Tuesday. “We’re not sure why the family is asserting that.”

The confusion over the suicide note is the latest twist in a health firings scandal that has stretched almost three years.

Ombudsperson Jay Chalke is expected to be asked by an all-party committee of MLAs on Wednesday to start an investigation into how the government botched the firings.

MacIsaac’s family said they’ll offer Chalke a copy of the suicide note to use in his investigation.

“The decision to suppress this document raises serious concerns for us and another issue to be dealt with in a public inquiry,” wrote Kayfish. “It is part of a continuing pattern to cover up mistakes and actions by the powerful, while exposing those, such as Roderick, to the full force of government power. Rod had rights, they were not respected and continue to be disrespected after his death.”

The suicide note, which fills three-quarters of a page, “reflects his frustration with the public dismissals at the Ministry of Health,” but there is no mention of MacIsaac’s drug research, contracts, projects or B.C.’s independent drug research group, the Therapeutics Initiative, said Kayfish.

“Though little in detail, it is clear and concise. There was no personal message to me or anyone other than those meant to be found by the investigators that I can discern,” she said.

Kayfish said the family would prefer the note remain private until the ombudsperson has reviewed it.

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